Router



Jan. 16, 1968 M. D. BURROWS ET AL 3,363,510

ROUTER Filed April 25, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet I 4 1 N V ENTORS MILFORD D. BURROWS PETER H. MORGANSON PHILLIPP J. QUEDENS BYW WWW/M9? ATTORNEYS Jan. 16, 1968 M. D. BURROWS ET AL 3,363,510

ROUTER Filed April 25, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fie. 6

INVENTORS M ILFORD D. BURROWS 7 PETER H. MORGANSON PHILLIPP .J. QUEDENS $022247, WM mu ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,363,510 ROUTER Milford D. Burrows, Avon, Peter H. Morganson, Winsted, and Phillipp J. Quedens, Hartford, Conn., assignors to The Stanley Works, New Britain, C0nn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Apr. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 545,151 7 Claims. (Cl. 90-12) The present invention relates generally to routers.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an economical and simplified router which is capable of giving reliable operation over a long service life.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a router with a new and simplified arrangement for adjusting its depth of cut.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a router which may be easily and conveniently manipulated to give professional results even by the relatively inexperienced.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a router incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the router of FIG. 1 additionally showing in broken lines a guide attachment mounted thereon;

FIG. 3 is a top end view of the router;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the router;

FIG. 5 is another side elevation view of the router; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section view partly broken away taken substantially along line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a router incorporating the present invention is shown comprising a motor subassembly 10 and a base subassembly 12 having a single piece cast base 13 with a central upright cylindrical column 14. The column 14 has a machined cylindrical bore 16 and the motor subassembly 10 has a housing with a lower casing 18 having an outer machined cylindrical surface which is adapted for being rotatably supported within the bore 16 of the column 14. The motor subassembly 10 is thereby adapted to be angularly and axially adjusted within the bore 16 of the column 14 and a suitable friction knob 17, for example, a friction knob of the type shown in US. Patent No. 2,562,143, dated July 24, 1951 and entitled Router, is employed for locking the motor subassembly 10 within the column 14 in its angularly and axially adjusted position.

The housing of the motor subassembly 10 also provided with an upper casing 19 which is preferably cast with an outer cylindrical surface 6 of substantially the same diameter as the lower casing 18. However, as the upper casing 19 is preferably not machined, the bore 16 of the central column is preferably slightly counterbored at its upper end to prevent undesirable frictional engagement by the casing 19 with the bore 16.

The single piece cast base 13 has a lower flat generally cylindrical base portion 20 which is coaxial with the cylindrical column 14. The base portion 20 has a flat front edge 22 (FIG. 3) and a suitable central opening (not shown) for the receipt of a router bit or cutter (not shown) and is preferbaly designed for mounting suitable cutting template guides therein. The router bit or cutter is adapted to be mounted in a conventional manner in a one piece chuck 24 on the lower end of the motor shaft and locked therein with a locking nut 26.

The column 14 is shown provided with a pair of op posed openings 28, 30 at the front and rear sides of the router to provide for greater access to the chuck 24 and to provide for visibly controlling the cut of the router. The cast base 13 is also provided with integral lugs 32, 34 just above the flat base portion 20 which have parallel transversely extending apertures 36 for slidably receiving the legs 38 of a U-shaped mounting rod 40 of the guide attachment 42 shown in broken lines in FIG. 2. Suitable fasteners 44 threaded into the lugs 32, 34 are also provided for adjustably locking the guide attachment 42 in appropriate position.

The cast base 13 is additionally formed with substantially diametrically opposed handle parts 46, 48 which are integrally connected to the column 14 above the lugs 32, 34 by oppositely extending radial arms 50, 52 respectively. As shown in FIG. 6 these handle parts are cast with cavities or pockets 53 therein, and suitable caps 54 of, for example, plastic construction are secured within the open ends of the handle parts 46, 48 to form handles that are contoured to be firmly and securely grasped for easy manipulation of the router.

For axially adjusting the motor subassembly 10 within the column 14 of the base casting 13 the column 14 is provided with an upper specially contoured edge 60 which comprises a generally helical edge portion 62 and a generally axially extending edge portion 64 connecting the ends of the helical edge portion 62. A depending lug or abutment 66 is formed integrally with the upper casing 19 to extend below the upper end of the cylindrical casing 18 for engagement with the helical edge portion 62 of the column. Thus, by loosening the locking knob 17, the motor subassembly can be angularly adjusted with the depending lug 66 abutting the upper helical edge 62 0f the column 14 to axially adjust the motor subassembly and thereby control the depth of cut of the router. To facilitate this adjustment, the depending lug 66 is provided with an embossed pointer 68 and the upper helical rim of the column 14 is provided with equally spaced embossed marks 70, 72 having a distance therebetween which represent a given increment of axial adjustment. In the shown embodiment, the axial pitch of the helical edge portion 62 is sufficient to provide an axial adjustment of greater than one inch, and the'marks 70, 72 are spaced to represent an increment of axial adjustment of one thirty-second of an inch.

Thus, it can be seen that the router of the present invention provides a new and simplified arrangement for adjusting the depth of cut of the router. Also, the router of the present invention provides a new and simplified construction which provides for economical manufacture of the router and for easy manipulation and operation even by the relatively inexperienced.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure above described will become readily apparent without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A router comprising a motor with a motor housing having an external cylindrical portion, a base with an upright column having a cylindrical bore rotatably receiving the cylindrical portion of the motor housing for axial and angular adjustment of the motor relative to the base, and means on the column for locking the motor against the base, said column having an upper generally helical edge portion and the motor having an abutment engageable with the helical edge portion for axially adjusting the motor subassembly in cooperation with the angular adjustment thereof.

2. The router of claim 1 wherein the motor housing comprises a lower casing having a machined external surface providing said external cylindrical portion and an upper casin g having said abutment thereon.

3. The router of claim 1 wherein the base comprises an integral casting forming the upright column, a flat base at the lower end of the column and handle parts extending substantially diametrically from the column above the fiat base.

4. The router of claim 3 wherein the handle parts have cavities therein and wherein the base further comprises end caps secured within the cavities of the handle parts and forming therewith contoured handles for supporting and guiding the router.

5. The router of claim 2 wherein the upper casing is integrally formed with said abutment and wherein the abutment depends below the upper edge of the machined external surface of the lower casing.

6. The router of claim 1 wherein the upright column has a generally helical rim with embossed marks thereon angularly spaced to represent a given increment of axial adjustment of the motor as it is radially adjusted with the abutment in engagement with the upper generally helical edge portion of the column.

7. The router of claim 3 wherein the casting has lugs on opposite sides of the upright column adjacent to and below the handle parts and having transversely extending openings therein for mounting a guide attachment on the router, and wherein the base comprises fasteners threaded into the lugs for adjustably locking the guide attachment to the base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LEONIDAS VLACHOS, Primary Examiner. 

1. A ROUTER COMPRISING A MOTOR WITH A MOTOR HOUSING HAVING AN EXTERNAL CYLINDRICAL PORTION, A BASE WITH AN UPRIGHT COLUMN HAVING A CYLINDRICAL BORE ROTATABLY RECEIVING THE CYLINDRICAL PORTION OF THE MOTOR HOUSING FOR AXIAL AND ANGULAR ADJUSTMENT OF THE MOTOR RELATIVE TO THE BASE, AND MEANS ON THE COLUMN FOR LOCKING THE MOTOR AGAINST THE BASE, SAID COLUMN HAVING AN UPPER GENERALLY HELICAL EDGE PORTION AND THE MOTOR HAVING AN ABUTMENT 